Thats odd, my limewire 2.3.1 only uses 10% cpu when a few uploads/downloads, and 5% when idle (10 ultrapeers connected) and 0% when disconnected from gnutella. And were talkin' Celeron 400mhz on XP . You wouldn't by chance be using any of Stardock's products (WindowsBlinds, CursorXP, WindowsFX)? I find they despise and interfere heavily with anything Java (those three in particular). Fortunatly, most have an exclusion list u can add "javaw.exe" to. If not you don't use any of those, try temporarily disabling yer virus scanner, I keep finding an increasing number of problems with them, most of which slow a computer to a crawl or crash it incessantly. My two cents,

-Dividend